The Sins of the Brother

The Sins of the Brother

Suzanne Marsh

La Mar Wilson and Luis Alvarado waited patiently for Jorge Rodriguez; he had a huge game system they coveted. La Mar looked at his watch: “Hey, when is Jorge supposed to get here? he is ten minutes late already. La Mar and Luis saw the white van going slowly down the street. The lights on the van blinked twice, a signal that the two men were waiting for. The van slowly pulled up to the curb and stopped. La Mar and Luis got in. The game system was worth stealing. La Mar sat behind the driver and Luis in the passenger seat. La Mar pulled a 9mm Beretta from under his shirt:

“Pull over at the light. Don’t do anything stupid and you won’t get hurt.”

Jorge did as instructed; La Mar told Luis to get the game system. Jorge turned to La Mar, it was broken. La suddenly, without thought, pulled the trigger of the 9mm. Jorge slumped over in the driver’s seat. La Mar and Luis ran from the scene, both men decided it would be best to go home, keep out of sight, and eventually the police would give up trying to find them. The police already had several leads, and since La Mar and Luis were gang members of the End Gamers, both were under suspicion for the murder of Jorge Rodriguez, a member of a rival gang. The police knocked on the door of La Mar’s grandfather’s home; they wanted to know where La Mar had been, and he was there now. La Mar crouched in a corner of the room he shared with his brother, Bronze. Bronze saw the fear in La Mar’s face:

“What did you do, La Mar? Grandpa is talking to the police.”

La Mar knew he was in way over his head:

“Bronze, I killed Jorge Rodriguez.”

Bronze stared at La Mar in disbelief:

“Why La Mar? Do you realize that you could go to jail for a very long time?”

La Mar could not look at Bronze:

“I wanted his gaming system; he was going to give it to me for five hundred dollars. Luis

thought it easier to take it. Jorge fought and struggled. I pulled the trigger.”

La Mar was arrested, his grandfather at first refusing to talk to him, he was ashamed and heartbroken that he had raised La Mar. The old man prayed that Bronze would grow into a man he could be proud of.

Police informed La Mar’s grandfather that if he was the one who had actually pulled the trigger, he would be facing the death penalty unless he struck a plea bargain with the District Attorney. It all depended upon whether La Mar pulled the trigger and if he would confess to the murder of Jorge. The police knew that the End Gamers and the “R” Street gang were fighting among themselves; Jorge was a member of the “R” Street Gang. Rival gangs, shootings the police were being cautious about who they arrested and why.

La Mar plea bargained and was given thirty years, making him forty-eight when he finished serving his sentence. Luis was arrested; at seventeen, he was to be tried as an adult. La Mar after spending almost two years in county jail was now in prison; not the life he had envisioned for himself after high school.

Bronze graduated from high school, found a job. He then bought a car for transportation back and forth to work. The thought never crossed Bronze’s mind that the End Gamers would not protect him; he knew most of the members from when La Mar was hanging out with them. They were all between the ages of sixteen and twenty; he thought about La Mar and the hurt and anger in his grandpa’s eyes. He could never do anything to hurt another living creature.

Manny Rodriguez knew the time for revenge on La Mar Wilson was set for March 3rd. He was glad that La Mar was in prison, where he belonged, where he could not murder anyone else. He thought about his brother Jorge, who was only seventeen when La Mar Wilson murdered him for a game system worth a little over five hundred dollars. Jorge only wanted one hundred dollars for it.

Manny shook himself from these thoughts; revenge was called for; he knew Bronze had graduated, had his own wheels, and was not as dumb as his brother La Mar. It was only a matter of a few days before the revenge would be complete; Bronze’s life for Jorge’s. That was street justice; that was why the “R Street Gang” and the End Gamers used guns on a regular basis.

March 3rd, Bronze went to see his grandfather and his sisters, then went to see his mom. He went to work at the usual time. Tonight, he was going to pick up several friends and go bar hopping. He finished work early, and he drove over to pick up Tom, his closest friend. They then picked up the others who were going with them. They headed down a dirt road to pick up the last person, then Bronze drove toward the Pink Lady Bar on the outskirts of town.

Bronze watched out his review mirror and, much to his amazement, there was a white Ford

van following him. He took evasive measures to be sure the van really was following him. He stopped at a stoplight, and the last thing he heard was a pop. Bronze felt the blood oozing from his head wound; one of the other guys immediately called 911. Police arrived, and an ambulance with two paramedics arrived. All attempts by police to aid Bronze were fruitless. The paramedics loaded Bronze into the ambulance. Bronze was drifting away faster than the ambulance could go.

Bronze’s grandpa cried softly as he drove to the hospital. Upon arriving at the Emergency Room, he was shown into Bronze’s cubicle. Blood seemed to be everywhere he looked. Bronze was dead; there was nothing anyone could do to bring him back.

On a quiet sunny afternoon, Bronze was laid to rest; his grandpa cried. Red roses were placed on his coffin. The church he attended set up a memorial fund in Bronze’s name.

Three weeks after the shooting, an arrest warrant was put out for Manny Rodriguez. Manny continued to drive the white Ford van. He was stopped for a traffic stop; the police noted that there was a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested and taken to the county jail, where he was held until trial. He received the death penalty for murdering Bronze. His grandpa wondered why La Mar was in prison and Bronze was dead...was it the sins of the brother?